The baroque (pronounced ba-rock) period is used to describe a time of dramatic and emotional art. Baroque art, buildings and music were created in Europe between 1600 and 1750.
Around this time, most of Northern Europe was Protestant while Southern Europe continued to follow the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church wanted to spread its message through art. Many paintings of the saints and miracles were painted.
In Northern Europe, the Church did not allow paintings of saints. Artists painted people, pictures of daily life, and pictures of fruit, flowers and other objects in the home. Compared to the calm classical art, baroque paintings are full of action and drama. Paintings of people show plenty of movement. The backgrounds of the paintings are usually dark. Light falls on the part of the picture where the artist wants you to look more carefully.
Like no other
One of the greatest baroque artists in history was the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. He was born in 1606. Rembrandt studied with other artists and opened his own studio.
Rembrandt loved bright colours and used oil paints, so his paintings looked glossy, yet natural and real. He started by painting stories from history and the Bible. In those days, there were no cameras and people paid money for portraits. Rembrandt was famous for his portraits. He also painted about 100 portraits of himself at various ages.
One of his most famous paintings is The Night Watch , which is a portrait of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and 17 of his armed men. Rembrandt painted it like a huge action scene. The painting is nearly 12 feet high!
Rembrandt was married and had four children, but three of his kids died when they were young. His wife also died young. This made him sad and his paintings expressed his feelings. He started using darker green, blue and red colours in place of the bright yellows and reds of his younger days.
Rembrandt lived in a large house but he was unable to pay for the it. He was forced to move out and sell his things to pay for it. This house is in Amsterdam and is known as the Rembrandt House Museum. During his life, Rembrandt created more than 600 paintings and 1,700 other works of art.
Visit the website of the Rijks Museum to see his paintings — www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/explore-the-collection/overview/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn
